Our planet is a remarkable place. It is home to almost eight billion people living on six continents (seven if you count the few hearty souls in Antarctica). In addition to human life, it is populated by all sorts of amazing plants and animals. But most of the life on this planet isn’t visible toContinue reading “Exploring Off The Coast”
Category Archives: Opening the Bible
Eight-Sided Baptisteries And The Resurrection Of Jesus
There are two rites/ceremonials acts that God has given the church: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Both of these are simple actions that symbolize much deeper, greater realities. Singing is singing and praying is praying, but when it comes to baptism and the Supper, there’s something more than what meets the eye. There is water,Continue reading “Eight-Sided Baptisteries And The Resurrection Of Jesus”
Embracing The Unpredictable
It was probably a good thing that Abraham and Sarah didn’t have any children when God called them away from Mesopotamia (Acts 7:2; Hebrews 11:8ff). We’re not given any details about how it all transpired so we have to use our imagination, but when Abraham poked his head inside the tent and told Sarah to startContinue reading “Embracing The Unpredictable”
Dwelling In The Shelter And Resting In The Shadow
Everyone recognizes there’s a difference between knowing what someone said and understanding what they meant. Several times a day we come across situations where we have to decipher the meaning of what we have heard or read. Here are some examples: “We will sell gasoline to anyone in a glass container.” “Students hate annoying professors.” “Happily theyContinue reading “Dwelling In The Shelter And Resting In The Shadow”
“Do You Want To Get Well?”
Who else but Jesus? Would anyone else dare ask a man who had been unable to walk for 38 years if he wanted to get well? Insulting? It certainly could be taken that way, but that wasn’t Jesus’ intent Neither was it something spoken in ignorance of the man’s situation. The text tells us that His question was prompted byContinue reading ““Do You Want To Get Well?””
Doing Something For God
The story of David and his desire to build a temple for God is recorded in 2 Samuel 7. By this point in David’s life, a lot of water had passed under his bridge. He’s been: At rest from his enemies, he has an overwhelming desire to do something for God. He was acutely aware of the fact thatContinue reading “Doing Something For God”
Be Warned And Live Wisely
The man who had all he wanted (2 Samuel 12:7-8), decided he wanted something he couldn’t have. This says something profound about the deceitful nature of both sin and the human heart (Hebrews 3:13; Jeremiah 17:9). After all, David was no spiritual slacker. He fought giants and composed psalms. He survived being pursued by King Saul and his 3,ooo troops—his conscience notContinue reading “Be Warned And Live Wisely”
Back To The Garden (2)
5. God sent Jesus to redeem and restore what was lost. Again, we need to see beyond the center of the picture to the edges. This means we don’t narrow or limit the mission of Christ. It was to reconcile man to God, but there was more. Colossians 1:15 speaks of Him reconciling “all things, whether things on earth orContinue reading “Back To The Garden (2)”
Back To The Garden (1)
One of the marks of the inspiration of the Scripture is that even though it consists of sixty-six different books (some quite different), written by approximately forty people, over a period of close to two thousand year years, it is not many stories, but one story. Despite its incredible diversity, there is a transcendent unity thatContinue reading “Back To The Garden (1)”
A Roman Cross And A Jewish Carpenter (2)
If you take this political/religious template and lay it over the New Testament, it opens another dimension of understanding. Jesus’ birth becomes a political event. He was born to overthrow Rome. Not in the civil sense of occupying an earthly throne, but in the sense that He was to be everything Rome was pretending to be.Continue reading “A Roman Cross And A Jewish Carpenter (2)”
A Taste of Grace with Bruce Green 